With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)

Mr Zoat · Apr 30, 2023

RoninSword said:
I think I'm getting what you said about Orion being married and Highfather being married confused.

Scott Free and Orion are both married. Kalibak is single and Izaya is a widower.

BR549 · Apr 30, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
Kalibak is single

And I can't possibly imagine why...

Kurai · May 1, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
It was a joke. Obviously I don't want people to hate my work.

I'd hoped so, but I also find it difficult to tell through text - I miss a lot of nuance without tone of voice, facial expressions, etc. And since I truly don't wish to cause you upset, I felt it better to err on the side of overcautiousness.

I also think that Vault Dwelling for Sanity and Profit is well worth a read and would appreciate being told if it was ever continued anywhere else.

I've not heard of it before, but I'll keep an eye out.

I was going with the program's desire to have her come to Earth as a child, because without that there's no reason for her to have a 'human family' at all.

Oh, certainly - but as it opens on Kara's 28th birthday, it might be tricky to handle the amount of flashbacks and extrapolation such a scenario would need. I fully expect you could do it; you've done remarkable work thus far. But it would be work, undoubtedly, to pull it off well.

Thank you, corrected.

You're welcome.

Coda · May 1, 2023

WereDragon said:
While the brief lesson in sign language is interesting I still have no clue why GK-Paul is pretending to be mute.

Because he doesn't want to have people recognize his voice when he's out of uniform.

Mr Zoat said:
"Ah… Big contract?

Missing closing quote.

Mr Zoat said:
"Immunisation injections?"

Working with Batman means that I've been exposed to some really interesting micro-organisms. I actually had to opt out of the school program because it would conflict with something else I had. I'm more than up to date now, but at the time I got people asking if I was afraid of the mercury.

He never actually answered the question.

Cuchulin · May 1, 2023

Darko said:
I think they thought he believed in some anti-vaccine conspiracies like that they have mercury in them.

Mr Zoat said:
No, that's correct. One of the more deranged claims from anti-vaxxers (that it, people who believe that the process of vaccination is inherently bad, not people who are against a particular vaccination for efficacy reasons) is that they contain mercury.

I'm pretty sure that about twenty to thirty years ago some of the standard early childhood vaccines had a tiny to the point of being harmless amount of mercury in them, which was then blown out of proportion by some people.

Prince Charon · May 1, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
We see them teleport. I don't remember seeing them fly FTL.

Depending on how their teleportation works, that may be a distinction without a difference, which was my point.

Mr Zoat · May 1, 2023

Coda said:
Missing closing quote.
He never actually answered the question.

Thank you, corrected.

Prince Charon said:
Depending on how their teleportation works, that may be a distinction without a difference, which was my point.

It is, because they teleport between prepared locations: circles of standing stones.

Mr Zoat · May 1, 2023

6th February 2013
13:27 GMT -5

"…escort my foot up his ass."

Mitchell just looks awkward as Artemis comes to the end of her mutter-tirade.

"Ah. Maybe he said it because he thinks you're pretty?"

And that was the wrong thing to say.

Her eyes narrow. "You-."

"It's the quickest way for them to start making a profit on bringing you here." She turns to me, some of the anger bleeding off. "People traffickers don't do long term investments."

Which is… Strange, when you think about it. I don't exactly know what sorts of people survive Anti-Life exposure the best, but I haven't seen anything showing that well-educated people die more. If it was me, I'd be focusing on trafficking people with high-value skills who'd want to leave, so I could exploit them. Just… Getting a whole lot of people for low-skilled jobs doesn't seem worth the effort.

Maybe they just assumed that people our age wouldn't have useful skills and so they didn't bother asking. Because… They're just taking whoever they can get, because Mistress controls the other side of the portal and they don't want their own people getting Anti-Lifed.

Mitchell lifts his head slightly, and a moment later I hear footsteps heading in our direction.

"Anything we need to know?"

He gives his head a small shake.

"Thug dialogue."

Okay, so the people on-site don't make assessments for high-value traffickees. They just decide who's worth passing on to someone who's actually important. But they're not high-value employees, either, so they're not motivated to put much effort in.

The door to the hut they put us in swings open, and a… Yeah, thug dialogue. Jimmy isn't much better dressed than his henchmen, but the body language makes it clear that he thinks he's going places.

"Three kids with super strength come through the hole at the same time." He shrugs. "Am I suppose to think that's a fluke?"

Artemis shakes her head. "Of course not. If we were hiding what we can do, we wouldn't have told you. And we'd have come through on separate days. We're not stupid."

"Alright. So why'd'you do it?"

"To get a better negotiating position. And we've worked with each other for years. We'd rather have people we know watching our backs."

"That Anti-Life thing only started about a month ago. You were together before that?"

"Yeah? I live in Gotham. Heard the cultists had a way out, took it. What's hard to understand?"

"How three people who clearly aren't related to each other have the same powers."

"What, you don't have the Danner Formula? Where.. are we, anyway?"

"Danner F-?" He leans closer, and if he had an orange power ring I'm pretty sure his eyes would be glowing. "You've got a way to give people permanent super strength?"

Yeah, that got him excited.

"No, some crazy doctor did and he gave it to our moms. Only works in the womb." Artemis shrugs. "And I don't know how to make it, so you're out of luck."

Jimmy pulls away, tossing his head back. "Fuck! Well. You all just got less valuable."

"To who? We don't know where we are. Or who you are."

"We're the people who got you out of your shit-hole home."

"Yes, thank you. But we can't work out what you want from us if you won't tell us anything."

Jimmy thinks about it. He's trying to make it look like he's in charge, but whatever Mistress's Justified said, they clearly don't have anything here that can stop us just leaving. Has this guy… Not seen what someone with super strength can do to a regular guy? Even if we're in the desert, we can run faster than most cars. Follow the road and we'll get somewhere eventually-.

Wait.

Fishing. I don't.. think their boss really knows what they could get out of this. I was thinking that a portal to a parallel universe would be expensive, but maybe they just stole it and now they're trying to work out how to make money from it. Can't sell something like that, not unless this world is a lot more advanced than it looks. You can fence jewellery, but who's going to buy a dimensional portal?

"Alright, fine. This is a parallel universe-."

"No duh."

"You wanna hear this or not?"

Artemis is doing a good job as a truculent teenager. She's got the expression down perfect.

"We're part of… A kind of super powered mob. We work for Ultrawoman. And I know you're thinking that you could make a run for it. Fuck, I wouldn't even hold it against you. But however strong you think you are? There ain't no one stronger than Ultrawoman."

Ultrawoman? I don't remember there being an Ultrawoman. OL said Superwoman was half their Mary Marvel and Olympia was their Wonder Woman, but he never mentioned an Ultrawoman. Maybe they carried on cloning after making Ultraboy? No, that was their Cadmus, and after Ultraman was dead, why would they make another one? Their Lex Luthor is a good guy.

"So you gunna play ball, or is the boss lady gunna have to fry you?"

"Yeah, we can… Play ball or whatever."

"Great." He takes a few steps back towards the door. "So-"

Mitchell twitches.

"-sit-."

There's debris everywhere! I duck, watching for-. Humanoid shape-. The ceiling, they came through the ceiling. The dust from the roof fills the air and makes it hard to see, and-.

Oh, I did get hit by part of the roof. It just didn't hit hard enough for me to feel it.

"Interesting."

There's a sudden gust of air, and the dust and dirt are blown away. Ultrawoman… She's wearing traditional kryptonian clothes in blue, gold and red, except where I expect to see an 'S', there's a 'U'.

"The other two flinched. You just stood there."

Her right hand is on Mitchell's collar, holding it loosely as she stares at him.

"What makes you different?"

If she's kryptonian, she should be able to see the difference between him and a human. But she's asking. Is she asking because she wants us to be honest..? Or is she not looking..? Mitchell looks at Artemis for a suggestion-.

"That one?" Ultrawoman looks at Artemis, her eyes glowing red. "Then I'll burn-."

"No."

She turns back to see Mitchell's eyes glowing the same behind his slowly-melting shades.

"Ah. Yes." Ultrawoman releases her hold on him and lets her eyes go dim. She's smiling. "Jimmy? Good work. I'll be taking these three immediately."

crazygrox · May 1, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
If she's kryptonian, she should be able to see the difference between him and a human. But she's asking. Is she asking because she wants us to be honest..? Or is she not looking..? Mitchell looks at Artemis for a suggestion-.

"That one?" Ultrawoman looks at Artemis, her eyes glowing red. "Then I'll burn-."

"No."

She turns back to see Mitchell's eyes glowing the same behind his slowly-melting shades.

I went ahead and reread the last section where Power Ring and Ultrawoman appeared.

And it only just now sunk in that Power Ring, Weaponer Lysis, and Sinestro-16 are working together on something. Some plan of theirs.
I somehow managed to fail to logically comprehend that and the implications of it on the first readthrough.

If it has something to do with Sinestro's planned Yellow Lantern Corps, then Sinestro might have just gained a super-lantern of his own. Assuming he gives power ring a yellow ring of his own. Or potentially gained a source of advice/research subject for how he can go about achieving fear-enlightenment himself.

If that evil-formula which made a few appearances earlier in the story makes people from positive universes act more like one of the people from these negative universes where social instincts are different, I wonder if there's a 'good-formula' which could enhance people from a negative universe while turning them good.
Maybe the thought is just reaching too much.
I also wonder whether people descended from positive universes will retain familiar social instincts despite being moved to a universe with differing ones, and which group will outcompete the other in evolutionary terms, if given the time to do so.
Or is it just a case where not being a sociopath is as rare in these universes as being a sociopath is in a positive universe, for reasons poorly-defined, and that's not liable to be changed by new genetic groups going into circulation, because there were already genes for that?

Chojin Patriarch · May 1, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
6th February 2013
13:27 GMT -5

"…escort my foot up his ass."

Mitchell just looks awkward as Artemis comes to the end of her mutter-tirade.

I'm guessing her interviewer wasn't as polite as Dick's was. And from the sound of it, if they didn't need to get in their good books, she'd have educated him on polite behaviour quite forcefully.

"Ah. Maybe he said it because he thinks you're pretty?"

And that was the wrong thing to say.

Oh, the guy clearly thought she was pretty. That's the problem.

Her eyes narrow. "You-."

"It's the quickest way for them to start making a profit on bringing you here." She turns to me, some of the anger bleeding off. "People traffickers don't do long term investments."

Though they'd probably change their mind if they tried to make her turn tricks. Considering she'd likely perform some bare-handed surgery on whatever pimp tried it.

Which is… Strange, when you think about it. I don't exactly know what sorts of people survive Anti-Life exposure the best, but I haven't seen anything showing that well-educated people die more. If it was me, I'd be focusing on trafficking people with high-value skills who'd want to leave, so I could exploit them. Just… Getting a whole lot of people for low-skilled jobs doesn't seem worth the effort.

Maybe they just assumed that people our age wouldn't have useful skills and so they didn't bother asking. Because… They're just taking whoever they can get, because Mistress controls the other side of the portal and they don't want their own people getting Anti-Lifed.

Or they just need warm bodies for something. Like, say, serving as fear generators?

Mitchell lifts his head slightly, and a moment later I hear footsteps heading in our direction.

"Anything we need to know?"

Sounds like their interviewer's boss has arrived. Time to dance for the latest monkey.

He gives his head a small shake.

"Thug dialogue."

A peculiar thing to say. No, wait. Is that Mitchell talking about what he can hear from them?

...Which I admit, I forget that he could do that.

Okay, so the people on-site don't make assessments for high-value traffickees. They just decide who's worth passing on to someone who's actually important. But they're not high-value employees, either, so they're not motivated to put much effort in.

The door to the hut they put us in swings open, and a… Yeah, thug dialogue. Jimmy isn't much better dressed than his henchmen, but the body language makes it clear that he thinks he's going places.

And probably going to end up on a one-way trip in cement shoes... Assuming a powered boss doesn't use him to paint the walls.

"Three kids with super strength come through the hole at the same time." He shrugs. "Am I suppose to think that's a fluke?"

Artemis shakes her head. "Of course not. If we were hiding what we can do, we wouldn't have told you. And we'd have come through on separate days. We're not stupid."

So he either thinks they're heroes or capes for a rival gang. Given he's probably a Minus-Sixteener, I'd bet on the latter.

"Alright. So why'd'you do it?"

"To get a better negotiating position. And we've worked with each other for years. We'd rather have people we know watching our backs."

True enough. Like I've said before: The best lie is one spiced with truth.

"That Anti-Life thing only started about a month ago. You were together before that?"

"Yeah? I live in Gotham. Heard the cultists had a way out, took it. What's hard to understand?"

And that should impress him, given that his Gotham is probably worse than theirs.

"How three people who clearly aren't related to each other have the same powers."

"What, you don't have the Danner Formula? Where.. are we, anyway?"

I'm betting Hugo Danner never got empowered in Minus-Sixteen, assuming he lived at all.

"Danner F-?" He leans closer, and if he had an orange power ring I'm pretty sure his eyes would be glowing. "You've got a way to give people permanent super strength?"

Yeah, that got him excited.

Well, not on them. If they had, would they have been here?

"No, some crazy doctor did and he gave it to our moms. Only works in the womb." Artemis shrugs. "And I don't know how to make it, so you're out of luck."

Jimmy pulls away, tossing his head back. "Fuck! Well. You all just got less valuable."

Honestly, he's not as smart as he thought if he expected a trio of teenagers to be carrying the formula for a super-serum on them...

"To who? We don't know where we are. Or who you are."

"We're the people who got you out of your shit-hole home."

...And I'm assuming he'd have tried to bully or swindle them into giving it to him if they had.

"Yes, thank you. But we can't work out what you want from us if you won't tell us anything."

Jimmy thinks about it. He's trying to make it look like he's in charge, but whatever Mistress's Justified said, they clearly don't have anything here that can stop us just leaving. Has this guy… Not seen what someone with super strength can do to a regular guy? Even if we're in the desert, we can run faster than most cars. Follow the road and we'll get somewhere eventually-.

Or he assumes they'll be so cowed by the changeover that they'll do whatever he says. They are only kids.

Wait.

Fishing. I don't.. think their boss really knows what they could get out of this. I was thinking that a portal to a parallel universe would be expensive, but maybe they just stole it and now they're trying to work out how to make money from it. Can't sell something like that, not unless this world is a lot more advanced than it looks. You can fence jewellery, but who's going to buy a dimensional portal?

It is a bit of a rare item. And whoever made it would probably come looking for it, if they didn't make it themselves.

"Alright, fine. This is a parallel universe-."

"No duh."

Indeed. This guy isn't used to working with kids, is he?

"You wanna hear this or not?"

Artemis is doing a good job as a truculent teenager. She's got the expression down perfect.

It kind of helps that despite the filing down of rough edges the Team has been doing, she still is. If not for them she'd probably have been running around as Tigress.

"We're part of… A kind of super powered mob. We work for Ultrawoman. And I know you're thinking that you could make a run for it. Fuck, I wouldn't even hold it against you. But however strong you think you are? There ain't no one stronger than Ultrawoman."

Ultrawoman? I don't remember there being an Ultrawoman. OL said Superwoman was half their Mary Marvel and Olympia was their Wonder Woman, but he never mentioned an Ultrawoman. Maybe they carried on cloning after making Ultraboy? No, that was their Cadmus, and after Ultraman was dead, why would they make another one? Their Lex Luthor is a good guy.

Presumably a Supergirl-equivalent who's taken a promotion. And there are various Superwomans in the comics...

"So you gunna play ball, or is the boss lady gunna have to fry you?"

"Yeah, we can… Play ball or whatever."

Heh. Superpowered baseball. Or cricket, if you'd prefer. There's an image.

"Great." He takes a few steps back towards the door. "So-"

Mitchell twitches.

Oh, he just picked up something coming, didn't he?

"-sit-."

There's debris everywhere! I duck, watching for-. Humanoid shape-. The ceiling, they came through the ceiling. The dust from the roof fills the air and makes it hard to see, and-.

Yeah, one thing people forget: buildings have a lot of dust in lightly-travelled areas. And some of it is often toxic.

Oh, I did get hit by part of the roof. It just didn't hit hard enough for me to feel it.

"Interesting."

Got to love how he's still not quite used to being super-tough.

There's a sudden gust of air, and the dust and dirt are blown away. Ultrawoman… She's wearing traditional kryptonian clothes in blue, gold and red, except where I expect to see an 'S', there's a 'U'.

"The other two flinched. You just stood there."

...Interesting outfit. Not quite as charming as the Silver Age's trunks-over-tights pulp-sci-fi style for the men...

Her right hand is on Mitchell's collar, holding it loosely as she stares at him.

"What makes you different?"

His lack of human experience, especially the sense of fragility we unconsciously exhibit.

If she's kryptonian, she should be able to see the difference between him and a human. But she's asking. Is she asking because she wants us to be honest..? Or is she not looking..? Mitchell looks at Artemis for a suggestion-.

"That one?" Ultrawoman looks at Artemis, her eyes glowing red. "Then I'll burn-."

She's that willing to throw away a useful worker in order to find out what Mitchell is?

"No."

She turns back to see Mitchell's eyes glowing the same behind his slowly-melting shades.

"Ah. Yes." Ultrawoman releases her hold on him and lets her eyes go dim. She's smiling. "Jimmy? Good work. I'll be taking these three immediately."

...Not sure if that's a good or a bad thing...

So, progress. At least they've gained the attention of a powered member of the Crime Syndicate. Now, how are they going to handle the discussion after this? Play it straight and be honest about being super-heroes, keep playing dumb and hope they can pull it off, or some middle ground between the two? Assuming Owlman doesn't poke his beak in and expose them with a look.

Darko · May 1, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
No, that was their Cadmus, and after Ultraman was dead, why would they make another one? Their Lex Luthor is a good guy.

Well there's still Ultraboy to deal with.

Plus, while Luthor may be a good guy, that doesn't mean that others wouldn't do it.

Bud-E · May 1, 2023

Is this Jimmy this universe's Jimmy Olsen?

Mr Zoat · May 1, 2023

Bud-E said:
Is this Jimmy this universe's Jimmy Olsen?

No, completely different person.

DAT_NOOB · May 1, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
If she's kryptonian, she should be able to see the difference between him and a human. But she's asking. Is she asking because she wants us to be honest..? Or is she not looking..? Mitchell looks at Artemis for a suggestion-.

"That one?" Ultrawoman looks at Artemis, her eyes glowing red. "Then I'll burn-."

"No."

She turns back to see Mitchell's eyes glowing the same behind his slowly-melting shades.

"Ah. Yes." Ultrawoman releases her hold on him and lets her eyes go dim. She's smiling. "Jimmy? Good work. I'll be taking these three immediately."

This got me thinking, she needs kryptonite for her powers right? Does that make Micthell technically more powerful than her? I'm pretty sure if push comes to shove the three of them can bring her down.

Not that they will yet cause you know, infiltration, but just my musing.

Wheenesss · May 1, 2023

DAT_NOOB said:
This got me thinking, she needs kryptonite for her powers right? Does that make Micthell technically more powerful than her? I'm pretty sure if push comes to shove the three of them can bring her down.

Not that they will yet cause you know, infiltration, but just my musing.

In theory yes, but if she figures out that positive matter Kryptonians are weak to Kryptonite, she can also use that to her advantage.

Direct physical contact with Kryptonite running through her veins might be enough to weaken Mitchell, since her body would have that radiation inside of her.

dw7thdoctor · May 1, 2023

Wheenesss said:
In theory yes, but if she figures out that positive matter Kryptonians are weak to Kryptonite, she can also use that to her advantage.

Direct physical contact with Kryptonite running through her veins might be enough to weaken Mitchell, since her body would have that radiation inside of her.

not unless Mitchell has radiation shield like Kon-El got from Paul.

Stsword · May 1, 2023

DAT_NOOB said:
This got me thinking, she needs kryptonite for her powers right? Does that make Micthell technically more powerful than her? I'm pretty sure if push comes to shove the three of them can bring her down.

Not that they will yet cause you know, infiltration, but just my musing.

Zoat can, and does, change what he wants but in the comics the kryptonite dependency is generally portrayed as a matter of stamina not power level.

One Ultraman surgically implanted kryptonite to avoid running out of power, for example.

So it's quite possible she's just as strong as Match, at least until her kryptonite runs out.

So if Match, Artemis, and Dick could keep the fight going until that happens she'd be screwed, but she knows this.

Mr Zoat · May 2, 2023

6th February 2013
13:40 GMT -5

I blink as the light fades, and-. Gravity's not right. Artificial. We're in space.

The room we're in looks kinda like an open-plan office, and Ultrawoman is walking over to a fancy-looking desk with three chairs in front of it.

That wasn't zeta radiation. Or a boom tube. So they've got some other kind of teleportation. I'd know it if I saw it again, but I don't know what it was.

"Sorry for the surprise. I-."

She reaches the other side of her desk and spins around to look at us, smiling.

"Actually, let's get to know each other a little better. Why do you think I flew in through the roof like that?"

Artemis shrugs. "To show how powerful you are?"

Ultrawoman.. looks me right in the eyes. "What do you think?"

Ah. Uh.

I don't wanna look at the others, and Ultrawoman's hearing is going to be as good as mine, so…

"Ah-. I mean, you found out I was kryptonian, so… Make us jump and see what we did?"

She nods, and she's still smiling, but… It looks pretty fake, even to me. "That's a good answer." She looks me over, and-. Yeah, she's using some sort of vision power. I don't know why: x-ray vision doesn't do much to kryptonians, and she already knows that I am one. "What else do you think I found out?"

"What we do when we're surprised." I relax a little when Dick answers. "Or if we were supposed to be some kind of trap."

She pulls out her chair, then flaps her right hand like she's trying to fan away a bad smell. "Jonathan-" Me. "-stayed right where he was, because he didn't know what to do but didn't think anything could really hurt him. You two moved out of the way and braced for action. You knew there wasn't anywhere to run to so you didn't try running, but you didn't know what you were facing so you didn't attack. Good reaction. Sit down."

We all kind of look at each other. But, I mean, they're just chairs. So we come a little closer and sit down.

Oh, I get it. She's still standing, so she's making us look up to her? She's making herself the centre of attention. Making herself look powerful, even though she's actually smaller than me. And a bit smaller than Artemis, actually. And making us obey her.

"So. Introductions. I'm Ultrawoman. I manage a number of enterprises for the Crime Syndicate of Amerika, and I'm interested in trialling the three of you for junior management positions in our organisation."

She sits down. And her chair's a little higher up than ours, so she's still above us. It makes me think of being at school more than anything. Batman usually does this kind of thing standing up.

"If your trial is successful, you will receive remuneration and benefits commensurate to your abilities… Think upper middle class, from the start, with opportunities to advance yourselves. The CSA is going through a period of reorganisation at the moment and there will be plenty of opportunities for a group of ruthless go-getters like yourselves."

Artemis raises her eyebrows. "Ruthless go-getters?"

"You brought useful people with you, but left your families behind. Did the Anti-Life break their spirits? Did they kill themselves, or did it hollow them out like Mistress's servants?"

"It's not-." Ultrawoman raises her eyebrows. "It's not. There was an opportunity, and we took it. We don't really know what you actually want from us, but whatever it is, it's gunna be easier for us to cope with it than someone else."

She shrugs. "If they turn up, I can arrange for them to be released into your care. You may have spotted it, but the people doing the interviews aren't exactly the most capable part of our enterprise."

"So..?" Dick leans forward. "What exactly is your enterprise? I take it the 'Crime Syndicate of America' isn't named ironically."

"It may as well be. What do you think of when you hear 'crime'?"

"Breaking the law?"

"So if there's no real law, what makes something a crime?"

Dick smiles. "Whoever's strong enough to enforce a code."

"Until two months ago, your world was a world of laws. Oh, some people were corrupt, and there were some places where corruption was common, but mostly, there were rules. Here, there aren't. Whatever… Social mechanisms, your type of humans-." She looks at me. "And my fellow kryptonian, have to make people work together for the common good, don't exist here."

Huh? "Then how do you make anything work?"

"Threats, violence, naked self interest. My.. people weren't entirely unlike that, but humans… I don't understand how they made it this far."

"'Weren't'?"

She frowns at me, but it's a curious frown rather than an angry frown.

"Are there a lot of kryptonians on your Earth?"

"No… Not many. Did your Krypton explode?"

"Ah… Kind of. We were pretty spread out, so that wasn't too big a problem."

Huh? "My species only died out because we were all on one planet. How did..?"

She looks uncomfortable for a moment. "We received a lesson on the negative long-term consequences of uncontrolled aggression. We bit off more than we could chew and nearly got wiped out, and that's a lesson I apply to my work for the CSA."

Artemis looks a little interested. "How?"

"We're here to make money, the same as everyone else. We work together because it's easier to stay out of the way of the only people who stand a chance of stopping us."

"And you do stuff that isn't illegal, 'cause there aren't any laws."

"I honestly think that my part of the CSA creates more order than it destroys. The humans here may look like the humans from your version of Earth, but they won't behave in the same way."

"I dunno. Humans can be pretty nasty back home as well."

"Annabelle, you don't need to worry. I understand that you're not exactly eager to work for a group of supervillains just because I asked nicely. I just want you to be a little open-minded about our work, and look at the society we're operating in not through the lens of how things work on your Earth, but in terms of how they work here."

"I… Guess.. we can do that?"

"Why don't I give you a tour of where the other people from your Earth have been working, and a tour of some… Sites of interest on this Earth, and you can ask any questions you like about what you see."

"You're… Being… Ah-."

"Nice about this? Annabelle, one of the main reasons we're trying to recruit from your Earth is because we believe that your people are easier to work with. I want to give our working relationship the best possible chance of being one that benefits both of us. So I could act like… Some people in the CSA, but I don't think that's in anyone's interests. You're being developed as a long-term asset, not some… Sideshow rube to be nickel and dimed."

"That… Sounds good..?"

"I'm glad to hear it. Oh, I meant to ask, before your Earth was infested with that Anti-Life thing, were there any wars happening?"

"Ah… No. After the Sheeda, things… Were pretty calm."

"Mm." She picks up a remote control and points it at the wall behind us. A moment later the wall drops down to reveal a window onto Earth orbit, the planet below-.

Explosions I can see from here bloom in five different places.

Bloodalchemy · May 2, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
Explosions I can see from here bloom in five different places.

Now, did she time things perfectly by knowing those bombs were going to explode? Or did her remote detonate them?

Darko · May 2, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
"Ah… Kind of. We were pretty spread out, so that wasn't too big a problem

I guess fhat if they were an expansionist empire then they'd have colonies on other worlds.

Izaya may have just destroyed Krypton, which would probably have a large portion of their species and be an important symbol.

Zig · May 2, 2023

Bloodalchemy said:
Now, did she time things perfectly by knowing those bombs were going to explode? Or did her remote detonate them?

I think the point is there is always at least one going off

Whenever Possible · May 2, 2023

So, to confirm, this is the Anti Matter version of Earth 16, which is a different evil version of Earth than Earth -14 which is where the Blue Paul is?

Ngamer11 · May 2, 2023

Whenever Possible said:
So, to confirm, this is the Anti Matter version of Earth 16, which is a different evil version of Earth than Earth -14 which is where the Blue Paul is?

Yes. This is Earth -16, which is where the Power Ring who works with Sinestro is from.

Chojin Patriarch · May 2, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
6th February 2013
13:40 GMT -5

I blink as the light fades, and-. Gravity's not right. Artificial. We're in space.

The room we're in looks kinda like an open-plan office, and Ultrawoman is walking over to a fancy-looking desk with three chairs in front of it.

Ah. They've progressed to the real job interview. And Ultrawoman has a Human Resources office all set up on the Syndicate satellite. Well, I assume the Syndicate's taken over in Ultraman's absence, given it used to be his.

That wasn't zeta radiation. Or a boom tube. So they've got some other kind of teleportation. I'd know it if I saw it again, but I don't know what it was.

"Sorry for the surprise. I-."

Naturally, there are many ways to breach the dimensional walls in the DC multiverse... Magic, Speed Force, Earth Science! Bullshit...

She reaches the other side of her desk and spins around to look at us, smiling.

"Actually, let's get to know each other a little better. Why do you think I flew in through the roof like that?"

Ah, an interesting question to start them off with. A test of their tactical skills...

Artemis shrugs. "To show how powerful you are?"

Ultrawoman.. looks me right in the eyes. "What do you think?"

I mean, it's obvious she's powerful. And you wouldn't have seen too much amongst the dust at first...

Ah. Uh.

I don't wanna look at the others, and Ultrawoman's hearing is going to be as good as mine, so…

In the hot seat, with no-one to help him. A worrying spot for the rookie.

"Ah-. I mean, you found out I was kryptonian, so… Make us jump and see what we did?"

She nods, and she's still smiling, but… It looks pretty fake, even to me. "That's a good answer." She looks me over, and-. Yeah, she's using some sort of vision power. I don't know why: x-ray vision doesn't do much to kryptonians, and she already knows that I am one. "What else do you think I found out?"

Ah, a Science Guilder at heart. Always running little experiments...

"What we do when we're surprised." I relax a little when Dick answers. "Or if we were supposed to be some kind of trap."

She pulls out her chair, then flaps her right hand like she's trying to fan away a bad smell. "Jonathan-" Me. "-stayed right where he was, because he didn't know what to do but didn't think anything could really hurt him. You two moved out of the way and braced for action. You knew there wasn't anywhere to run to so you didn't try running, but you didn't know what you were facing so you didn't attack. Good reaction. Sit down."

Well, she's got their number there. She can tell they're experienced fighters, enough to not be panicky.

We all kind of look at each other. But, I mean, they're just chairs. So we come a little closer and sit down.

Oh, I get it. She's still standing, so she's making us look up to her? She's making herself the centre of attention. Making herself look powerful, even though she's actually smaller than me. And a bit smaller than Artemis, actually. And making us obey her.

It's a simple power play, but a logical one. I doubt she's over five foot six. So it's hard to loom dominantly without flying.

"So. Introductions. I'm Ultrawoman. I manage a number of enterprises for the Crime Syndicate of Amerika, and I'm interested in trialling the three of you for junior management positions in our organisation."

She sits down. And her chair's a little higher up than ours, so she's still above us. It makes me think of being at school more than anything. Batman usually does this kind of thing standing up.

Huh. Good thing they outed themselves as having powers, then. Bypasses the struggle of having to work out what's going on from the perspective of the ant.

"If your trial is successful, you will receive remuneration and benefits commensurate to your abilities… Think upper middle class, from the start, with opportunities to advance yourselves. The CSA is going through a period of reorganisation at the moment and there will be plenty of opportunities for a group of ruthless go-getters like yourselves."

Artemis raises her eyebrows. "Ruthless go-getters?"

...Oh, god, she is evil.

She's using corporate double-speak.

"You brought useful people with you, but left your families behind. Did the Anti-Life break their spirits? Did they kill themselves, or did it hollow them out like Mistress's servants?"

"It's not-." Ultrawoman raises her eyebrows. "It's not. There was an opportunity, and we took it. We don't really know what you actually want from us, but whatever it is, it's gunna be easier for us to cope with it than someone else."

A logical answer. Let's hope she buys it.

She shrugs. "If they turn up, I can arrange for them to be released into your care. You may have spotted it, but the people doing the interviews aren't exactly the most capable part of our enterprise."

"So..?" Dick leans forward. "What exactly is your enterprise? I take it the 'Crime Syndicate of America' isn't named ironically."

Honestly, that's one odd thing about the reverse-morality Earths. If Evil always wins, then they aren't really committing crimes, are they? What is a crime, when everyone is evil?

"It may as well be. What do you think of when you hear 'crime'?"

"Breaking the law?"

...Who defines the law in a world of selfish bastards?

"So if there's no real law, what makes something a crime?"

Dick smiles. "Whoever's strong enough to enforce a code."

Another answer she was probably fishing for. He's acing the sense motive rolls.

"Until two months ago, your world was a world of laws. Oh, some people were corrupt, and there were some places where corruption was common, but mostly, there were rules. Here, there aren't. Whatever… Social mechanisms, your type of humans-." She looks at me. "And my fellow kryptonian, have to make people work together for the common good, doesn't exist here."

Huh? "Then how do you make anything work?"

People find different ways to make a consensus of right and wrong...

"Threats, violence, naked self interest. My.. people weren't entirely unlike that, but humans… I don't understand how they made it this far."

"'Weren't'?"

To be fair, Kryptonians are somewhat more evolved than humans. Socially and physically.

She frowns at me, but it's a curious frown rather than an angry frown.

"Are there a lot of kryptonians on your Earth?"

Hmm. No local intel on the more exotic parts of Earth Sixteen culture, eh?

"No… Not many. Did your Krypton explode?"

"Ah… Kind of. We were pretty spread out, so that wasn't too big a problem."

I'm guessing it exploded for a different reason here. Likely some cosmic do-gooder or eviler empire applying some retribution.

Huh? "My species only died out because we were all on one planet. How did..?"

She looks uncomfortable for a moment. "We received a lesson on the negative long-term consequences of uncontrolled aggression. We bit off more than we could chew and nearly got wiped out, and that's a lesson I apply to my work for the CSA."

In other words, a more powerful race slapped you down when you tried to bite off more than you could chew. Presumably the New Gods.

Artemis looks a little interested. "How?"

"We're here to make money, the same as everyone else. We work together because it's easier to stay out of the way of the only people who stand a chance of stopping us."

Money's probably the most common goal, yes. But There's no doubt many with other things they want out of life.

"And you do stuff that isn't illegal, 'cause there aren't any laws."

"I honestly think that my part of the CSA creates more order than it destroys. The humans here may look like the humans from your version of Earth, but they won't behave in the same way."

'Cui Bono' is the principle that drives humans on this Earth. 'How do I get mine?'

"I dunno. Humans can be pretty nasty back home as well."

"Annabelle, you don't need to worry. I understand that you're not exactly eager to work for a group of supervillains just because I asked nicely. I just want you to be a little open-minded about our work, and look at the society we're operating in not through the lens of how things work on your Earth, but in terms of how they work here."

Since, depending on the nature of their universe, the very concept of Good and Evil's dominance may be reversed. On a positive matter Earth, Good always wins because, well, Narrative Causality. In an Anti-Matter universe?

Good loses.

"I… Guess.. we can do that?"

"Why don't I give you a tour of where the other people from your Earth have been working, and a tour of some… Sites of interest on this Earth, and you can ask any questions you like about what you see."

Including a few simple object lessons in what refusing the offer might result in, hmm?

"You're… Being… Ah-."

"Nice about this? Annabelle, one of the main reasons we're trying to recruit from your Earth is because we believe that your people are easier to work with. I want to give our working relationship the best possible chance of being one that benefits both of us. So I could act like… Some people in the CSA, but I don't think that's in anyone's interests. You're being developed as a long-term asset, not some… Sideshow rube to be nickel and dimed."

'Easier to work with', huh? More like 'so beaten down and depressive thanks to the Anti-life that they're pliable.'

"That… Sounds good..?"

"I'm glad to hear it. Oh, I meant to ask, before your Earth was infested with that Anti-Life thing, were there any wars happening?"

Now why do you ask that, I wonder?

"Ah… No. After the Sheeda, things… Were pretty calm."

"Mm." She picks up a remote control and points it at the wall behind us. A moment later the wall drops down to reveal a window onto Earth orbit, the planet below-.

Explosions I can see from here bloom in five different places.

...Ah. I'm guessing some folks objected to the changes in leadership.

So, it seems Earth Minus Sixteen is a bit more lively than its positive-matter counterpart. To be expected of 'reorganisation', I guess. Some yahoo with more muscles than brains decides "The old boss is gone, now's my chance!' going off and starting a super-powered gang war. Then another group makes reprisal attacks... I'm guessing the kids would be asked to...

'Lend a hand in matters' if they signed on.

RoninSword · May 2, 2023

Everyone needs to keep in mind that however nice she's being here, her job was to literally make herself be indispensable to whatever planet she was working on so that Krypton would have an easier time of absorbing the planet into their empire.

Ultrawoman was meant to do it to this versions New Genesis. Highfather (or whatever he calls himself here) took exception.

FourthPear · May 2, 2023

RoninSword said:
Everyone needs to keep in mind that however nice she's being here, her job was to literally make herself be indispensable to whatever planet she was working on so that Krypton would have an easier time of absorbing the planet into their empire.

Ultrawoman was meant to do it to this versions New Genesis. Highfather (or whatever he calls himself here) took exception.

Kek.

Darko · May 2, 2023

RoninSword said:
Ultrawoman was meant to do it to this versions New Genesis. Highfather (or whatever he calls himself here) took exception

It's apparently Godfather Izaya.

Joelseph14 · May 2, 2023

I honestly think that Earth -16 is legit with this hiring from another earth business or at least as much as they can be. It's gonna be interesting when Paul comes back to remove the Anti-Life and sees what -16 Green Lantern has been doing

Darko · May 2, 2023

Chojin Patriarch said:
To be fair, Kryptonians are somewhat more evolved than humans. Socially and physically

Physically yes, but socially they have been portrayed as having a lot of problems.

Chojin Patriarch said:
In other words, a more powerful race slapped you down when you tried to bite off more than you could chew. Presumably the New Gods

Godfather Izaya to be exact.

Chojin Patriarch said:
Easier to work with', huh? More like 'so beaten down and depressive thanks to the Anti-life that they're pliable.'

Partially this, but Earth 16 humans are capable of things like loyalty, friendship etc.

Things that their Anti-Mattet counterparts aren't capable of expressing or having.

Duke Long · May 2, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
She looks at me. "And my fellow kryptonian, have to make people work together for the common good, doesn't exist here."

'don't exist'

I didn't consider that the nature of antimatter Earths might make them more prone to nuclear war. Kind of makes me surprised that they aren't mostly wasteland. If they had the system we do where there are lots of people involved, most of them would probably decide it wasn't in their interests, but I imagine the launch systems are designed so that a single person is capable of launching the arsenal.

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